The firelight flickered across the grand hall of the Red Keep, casting long shadows against the stone walls as lords and ladies of the court gathered to celebrate the beginning of another year in King’s Landing Wine flowed freely, and the air was thick with the heady scent of revelry Aemond, with his sharp features and the cold, confident demeanor he carried like a second skin, moved through the room with the grace of a predator His reputation had always preceded him—brilliant, ruthless, and possessing a single-minded ambition that burned as fiercely as the dragon he rode.

You had been by his side for some time now, though you would never have called yourself his lover The word felt too simple, too common, to describe the complicated bond that held the two of you together In the world, where bloodlines and power meant everything relationships were often unspoken arrangements.

That night, the court was alive with song and laughter, but the celebration turned sour when you saw Aemond approach a lady of noble birth, someone you hadn’t seen before With calculated precision, he took her hand, leaning in to whisper something in her ear Then, as if it were the most natural thing in the world, he kissed her The sight sent a rush of fire through your veins—a kiss as bold as it was deliberate, a message that he didn’t need to answer to anyone, not even you.

When Aemond returned, his eye glittered with that unmistakable mixture of challenge and amusement, the corner of his mouth curving into a faint, arrogant smile He stood before you unfazed, his pale hair falling loosely over his shoulder.

“What troubles you?” His voice was smooth, dangerously calm “Did you think to lay some claim on me?” His tone was laced with the cold superiority that came so naturally to him “You should know by now that I am not a man for soft affections,” he continued, his words as sharp as Valyrian steel. “I am a dragon, and we do not kneel to anyone’s expectations.”